Truths Hurt, but Lies Kill
by thebiangle
Summary: Before Natasha and the Avengers, Agent Clint Barton had a different partner in SHIELD. But things got...complicated... Both of the two never thought they'd see each other again, but the world, and a giant alien portal opening in the skies of New York, proved them wrong.
1. Prologue - Part 1

**Hi everyone! So this is actually an idea i had a while ago. I wrote the first couple of chapters on a different account I shared with a friend, but I didn't like it at all so I took it down and am going to try and rewrite it with a different plot, but same characters. I will be posting it here on this account from now on. I will try and update as often as possible, shooting for 2-3 times a month, but I am really sorry if I end up posting less. I also apologize for any grammar or spelling mistakes.**

 **I hope you guys like this story!**

 **Enjoy!**

Prologue- Part 1

A single ray of sun rudely shinned down onto the brunette who slept in the bed. Her slumber was so light that the single ray was all it took to wake her up. The room was dark except for the one light that peeked through the curtain and onto her face. Letting out a small grumble, she rolled over and faced the man who laid in the bed, he was still sleeping peacefully. His chest rose up and down in an even rhythm. The clock on the bedside table caught her eye. _6:43am_. Sighing, she laid her head on the mans chest and closed her eyes. Her movement made the man stir slightly and he wrapped his arm around her.

"Hey." he mumbled to her, his voice raspy from sleep. She smiled and mumbled in response.

"It's almost seven."

"Mmmm. So?" His eyes were still closed, and he drew out his words slightly.

"We have the briefing at seven fifteen."

"Briefing smeafing. We just got back from an op-" he turned and looked at the clock, "four hours ago. Cant we skip just this one?" He was almost whining. Her smile widened and she let out a sleepy laugh.

"I wish. But you know we cant." She rolled off his chest and onto her back, laying next to him. "You should be getting back to your room." Her comment was met by an audible sigh from him. "Or would you rather _he_ found out." She added. The last comment seemed to motivate him, as he pushed the covers off and started to sit up out of bed. She shifted on to her side and propped her head up with her elbow, watching him as he slowly got out of bed. He wore only his boxers, and from her view she could see the newly dressed, white bandage that was taped on his shoulder. A small amount of blood had seeped through, causing a small mark of red in the middle of the white bandage.

"Where the hell are my pants?" He grumbled. A small laugh escaped from her lips as she pointed towards a corner of the room where his clothes were strewn on a chair. He padded across the room and grabbed his black jeans, pulling them on. After, he grabbed his black t-shirt and put it on. He turned towards her and held out his hands to his sides.

"How do I look?" He asked.

"The same as you did when you came in through the rafters last night." She stretched slightly, then swung her legs over the edge of the bed and sat up.

"I'll take that as a good thing."

"You do that, _Hawkeye._ " She drew out his codename, poking fun at it. He walked towards her and put a hand on either side of where she sat. He kissed her once, then started leaning in and slowly pushing her back down on the bed.

"You only say it like that cuz you're jealous you don't have a cool name." He said it in a quiet, but playful tone. They now laid in the bed, her on the bottom and him propped above her. Before he was able to react she grabbed his hands that were keeping him up, and twisted them around. He fell to the side and she quickly rolled on top of him. From her new position on top she lowered herself down slightly and whispered in his ear,

"Maybe I don't have one because I don't need to compensate." She smirked.

"I don't know if you're referring to me using a bow as a primary weapon, or something else... either way that comment was mean!" He shook his head, a playful pouting look formed on his face.

"Oh get over it Hawkeye." She pushed herself off of the bed, then walked over to a small dresser in the corner of the room. After opening one of the drawers and searching inside it for a moment she pulled out jeans and a black shirt, then quickly got dressed.

"Oh look at that. We match. How cute." Clint said as he pulled her into a hug from behind. She laughed and twisted around, wrapping her hands under his arms and laying her head on his chest.

"You should really be getting back to your room. The briefing is in," she looked over at the clock. "twelve minutes."

"Yeah yeah." He pulled away from her, grabbed the chair that was against the wall and dragged it to the middle of the floor. After positioning it correctly he jumped up onto it and reached up to the ceiling, where he pushed open the vent to the air duct, then pulled himself up and disappeared into the ceiling. Just as she thought he was gone, he swung his torso and head down from the ceiling abruptly using his legs to keep him hanging.

"Emily, I almost forgot." His sudden movement made her jump.

"What is it you child?" She walked up to where he hung upside down, their heads level with each other.

"I love you." He said, quieter then his usual tone. Emily was taken aback. Neither of them had ever voiced aloud their feelings like that. She remained quiet for several seconds, too shocked to respond. Clint noticed her silence, obviously taking it as her response. A small look of disappointment, and regret, crossed over his face, and he was about to pull himself back up into the vents before she was able to reply, but as he started moving she grabbed his arm and pulled him back down, pulling him into a long, deep, and also upside down, kiss.

"I love you too you dork." She said quietly after pulling away. Neither of them could hide their smiles. Without saying another word Clint pulled himself back up into the air ducts, pulling the small grate back over the hole and separating her room from the vents. She shook her head and walked across her small room and into the bathroom, where she turned on the tap and grabbed her toothbrush from the counter. Was her and Clint's relationship breaking the rules? Yes. If anyone ever found out would they get suspended and assigned new partners? Definitely, but for once, she found herself not caring. For once all of these things that she was always so worried about weren't bothering her. She really did have feelings for Clint, feelings she'd never really felt towards anyone before.

After finishing in the bathroom, she made her way to the door of her room, grabbing her leather jacket and slipping her arms into it before walking out the door. The door led into the hall of one of the newly built SHIELD training facilities. Trainee agents walked through the halls holding bags, books, and files that had the SHIELD emblem on them. Most of the files had the words 'level 1' written on them, signifying the lowest levels of security clearance. Usually her and Clint weren't stationed at a base like this, but recent information of a rogue assassin had brought them here.

She closed the door to the room she was staying in and locked the door, then started walking down the hall. Some of the trainees upon seeing her nodded at her respectfully, while others avoided her eye contact, whispering to each other. These occurrences made her laugh to herself and she had to admit, being in a place where everyone respected, but also feared you, was definitely boosting her ego. Clint's voice sounded as he walked up next to her,

"Hey Em, here's the file for the briefing."

"Thanks." She took the file out of his hand. They expertly changed into a different form of relationship as they were no longer in private. She opened the file and found herself face to face with a picture of Ethan Standike, a man she wished she never had to see again. A small shiver ran down her spine, her hand subconsciously fell to a spot on her side, where a three inch scar had formed. She stared into his eyes that were a deep green, with small specs of brown spewed throughout them. Clint must have noticed the her shift in stature.

"Hey, you ok?" He asked her. She snapped the file shut and forced a smile up at him.

"Yeah, of course."

He didn't seem convinced, but before he could pry any further they were interrupted.

"Emily, Clint." a voice greeted them from behind. They both turned around to see Phil Coulson walking towards them. Emily nodded a hello to him, as Clint said,

"Hey Phil."

The older agent smiled at the two of them, then turned towards her.

"Emily may I speak to you for a moment?"

"Sure." She handed the file to Clint, "I'll meet you at the briefing." Both her and Phil stopped in the hall as Clint nodded and continued walking.

"How are you doing?" He asked gently. Emily let out an exasperated sigh.

"Why does everyone keep asking me that?" She scrunched up her face in annoyance. How many times do I have to say that I'm fine?"

"Until I believe you." He put a gentle hand on her shoulder. "Look, Emily, Fury will understand if you don't feel comfortable going into this mission. The last time you encountered Standike things didn't go well."

Of course she knew why both Him and Clint her questioning her about this. Her mind momentarily flashed back to a previous solo mission she had gone on three months ago.

 _It was an easy op, at least it should have been. But they knew she was coming and where she was. They ambushed her, and now she awoke from her unconsciousness and found she was in a dark room with cement walls and floors. Her hands were tied to a pipe above her head, causing her to barely be able to touch the ground with her toes. At some point when she was unconscious her attackers must have taken her shirt off, leaving her in only her sports bra and black cargo pants. Even just hanging there she could feel that all of her weapons had been taken from her. There was suddenly the sound of metal scraping against metal and the door to the room opened, revealing a man she didn't know then, but now knew as the assassin Ethan Standike._

 _"Ah, Agent, I see that you are awake." He flashed her a toothy smile, revealing perfectly white teeth. He spoke with a thick accent that she recognized immediately as Russian._ Why are they always Russian? _She thought to herself._

 _"Who are you?" She spat back._

 _"No no, if you do not mind, you shall not be asking me any questions today."_

 _"Well let me just start off by saying I won't be answering any of yours."_

 _"Actually, this is less a matter of questions, rather, there is something that I want." He smiled at her again, it seemed genuine which through her off slightly. She had kept herself calm and composed, she knew a SHIELD team would be on their way way to her soon since she hadn't checked in. They'd take that as not a good sign. All she had to do was stall._

 _"Look you seem like a relatively ok guy," she paused, "maybe. And really, I'd love to give you what you need and just get out of here, but I'm afraid that there's no possible way i can do that."_

 _"If that is your decision then I suppose we should get started." He picked up a scalpel and started walking towards her. "I do not want to do-"_

"Emily." Phil's voice snapped her back to reality. Her hand was once again subconsciously protecting the scar on her side.

"Yeah, look dad I'm fine. He's just some psycho assassin who we need to deal with before he hurts anyone else." She gave him a reassuring smile.

"Ok. But if anything happens, and I mean anything, that could cause more of a conflict of interest than there already is I'm pulling you from this mission. Understood?"

"Yes sir." She said it in a mocking tone, and it was met by an unamused look from her father.

"I'm serious. I will pull you from this." He looked her dead in the eye. "Now go, you're gonna be late for the briefing." A look of regret seemed to cross over his face, but it immediately disappeared.

"Aren't you coming?"

"Fury already briefed me, I have some stuff to take care of today. But don't worry, I'll be there when you and Clint head out." He smiled at her, then enveloped her in a warm hug. It surprised her. Usually her dad didn't show this much affection to her in public. He always kept their father-daughter relationship strictly professional when they were working on base, even having her call him Phil instead of Dad. She wrapped her hands around her father and hugged him back. When they both pulled away they said a short goodbye and went in their separate directions. Emily headed towards the briefing room, all the while a thought tugged at her mind. One that was convinced something bad was going to happen today, and it was going to be something she wasn't going to be able to stop.

 **This is just the first half of my prologue, I wanted to post it first to see if you guys like it before continuing. Please leave a comment on your thoughts! I'm completely open to any suggestions and writing tips.**

 **Thank you guys!**


	2. Prologue - Part 2

**Here's the last part of the prologue, its a lot longer than the firth part. hehe... It took slightly longer than expected to post, so sorry about that.**

 **I hope you guys enjoy!**

Prologue- Part 2

The briefing room was only a short walk from where her and Phil had spoken. This time, as she walked down the halls, she ignored the cadets when they stared at her in aw. A feeling chewed away at her gut, but she pushed it down, reassuring herself. _Everything's fine, it's a standard mission, nothing you haven't done before._ No matter what she said to herself the feeling still ate away at her, making her heart beat faster then it's normal rate. Without warning, pain flared inside her head, causing her to bend over in agony. A few of the young agents passed by, looking at her and whispering amongst themselves. Not wanting to be seen, she ducked into the nearest side hall. Spots formed in her vision. Putting a hand on the wall, she blinked multiple times, in an effort to get them to decrees, but they still remained. They over took her vision, making her see nothing but white light.

 _The light slowly faded away, revealing a large garden like area. She squinted her eyes, waiting for them to adjust. The light dissipated, letting her eyes open fully. Her previous statement was correct. Gone was the hall where she previously was, she was, in fact, in a garden. Confusion washed over her. What was happening? She spun around when she heard a voice and saw a human figure behind her. The figure cleared, revealing Ethan Standike. She reached down for her gun that was usually in her holster, finding nothing. The other assassin spoke, but his words were unclear. All that she could hear was the tone of his voice, it was a strangely friendly tone, one that was offering and welcoming. His words floated past her, incomprehensible. She threw herself at him, knocking him to the ground. She was on top of him, punching him when a deafening boom rang throughout the air, a boom that sounded like an explosion, a big one. Turning in the direction of the sound, she saw a huge wave of smoke and debris coming towards her._

With another painful jolt, Emily was thrown back into reality. Once again she was back in the side hall, both hands planted firmly on the wall as she leaned over. Her heart felt like it was going to explode. The pain in her head slowly eased away leaving nothing but a slight throb in the back of her head. _What had just happened?_ She tried to make sense of it, but she couldn't explain it. _Maybe I hit my head harder than I thought I did last mission._ Massaging her forehead, she pushed herself away from the wall and stepped back into the main hallway. The pain in her head had mostly gone, leaving almost no evidence that the strange occurrence had even happened. Without really thinking about it, she decided the event would go untold until she figured out what was wrong. Looking down at her clock, she saw it was 7:17. Mumbling under her breath, she picked up her pace to the briefing room.

The door to the room required level seven security clearance, which of course she had. She pulled out her id badge and swiped it through the machine. The words _Agent Emily Coulson; field agent; security clearance level 8; approved_ appeared on the screen and the locks clicked open. She grabbed the handle and pulled it open. Inside the room there was a large conference table filled with higher up agents, including Clint who sat on the side of the table opposite of the door. There was an empty seat next to him. All of the agents turned to face her, stopping all chatter. At the head of the table sat Director Fury, who stopped mid sentence and looked up at her.

"Good of you to finally join us, Agent Coulson." Clear annoyance in his voice.

"Yes, sorry I'm late sir." She crossed the room and sat in the empty chair next to Clint. He gave her a relieved look, obviously he was already bored. Clint would much rather just read the files and not attend the briefings.

"You're lucky you're my best agent or else you wouldn't get away with the things you do."

"Uh sir, don't you mean second best agent?" Clint interjected, raising his hand.

"Do I ever not mean what I say, agent Barton?" An almost unnoticeable smirk crossed Fury's face and a small snort came out of Emily's mouth. Clint swiveled his chair around and death glared her. She only shrugged. Fury cleared his throat.

"Now, since we are all here, let's begin the briefing." He slid a small device into the center of the table. When it came to a stop pictures erupted out of it. Fury began speaking once again, "I'm sure you're all familiar with this man from SHIELD reports." A picture of Ethan Standike popped up in the mass of images and information. Emily stiffened slightly as Fury continued,

"He's been the cause of at least four confirmed SHIELD agent deaths in the past ten months. The info we have on him is limited; we don't know where he came from, if he's working with someone or alone, and all we know about who he is, is his name. His motives are a mystery to us, but right now they don't matter. He's a threat to SHIELD and he has to be taken down." He paused and pressed a button on the remote that controlled the device. New pictures erupted out of it. "For the past month we've had agents scouring the globe looking for a single trace of Standike, and three days ago we finally got a hit."

A picture enlarged on the hologram, one that seemed to be of Standike ordering a coffee at a cafe. The photo had been taken from a distance, most likely from outside on the street, which caused it to be slightly blurred. Even so, she could still make out the assassins features and just looking at them sent shivers down her spine.

He had a smile on his face as he spoke to the barista. Emily studied the his face. It was warm, and welcoming, not one that you'd incorporate with a stone cold killer. _The coldest assassins always seem like the nicest people._ She said to herself.

"How did you find him?" She asked out loud. Fury hesitated to answer.

"We put out a lure."

"And by a lure you mean?" Her tone was questioning.

"We put together, and leaked a small amount of information of an agent who's running an op there." He stated. Emily was taken aback.

"You purposefully leaked information on an agent? To get Standike to come here to most likely kill said agent? And you thought that was the best play?"

"In his defense the agent knows and was completely willing." Clint cut in. Emily whipped her head towards him.

"You knew about this?"

"Well...um..." Clint trailed off, rubbing the back of his neck. Realization dawned on Emily.

"The agent is you." It more a statement than a question. It was met with a sharp nod. "No, no absolutely not. I will not allow this."

"You don't really have a choice in the matter, agent Coulson." Fury stated.

"Well I think I do. No one in this room has ever met this guy, never been face to face with him, except me. I'm the only person who's ever met him, the only one who's talked to him. I know more about how he operates then any of you."

"And thats exactly way I'm having Agent Barton take the lead on this one."

"Excuse me?"

"There is a huge conflict of interest for you here. There's no way I'm letting you run point. Agents Barton and Daniels will be taking lead on this, you are backup."

Emily looked across the table at the agent Daniels, giving her a death glare. The other woman gave her a cocky smile back. Something about Daniels had always rubbed Emily the wrong way. Rage boiled inside her.

"Sir do you really th-" She started, but Fury cut her off.

"Yes, I do think it's the best play. Barton and Daniels and taking lead. Besides, even if I wanted to send you in i couldn't, Standike has seen you, he'd know it's a trap the minute he saw you in the room. You are backup, you only go in if I tell you. We are done discussing it. Moving on." He ignored her heated stare and continued talking. "According to the 'mission files' that we leaked, Agent Barton will be attending a charity gala for a local company. As far as Standike knows he's there on a routine protection mission, making sure nothing happens to anyone. But once Standike arrives Agent Daniels, who will also be at the gala as a separate guest, and Barton will move in." He made eye contact with Emily as he continued speaking. "There will be a backup team, lead by agent Coulson, who will only move if I give the word. We move out at sixteen hundred hours. I expect everyone to be on point. You're all dismissed, don't be late to the jet." The holograms retreated back into the device and Fury leaned over and grabbed it.

The other agents began gathering the files on the table and standing. Emily pushed her chair away from the table and stood abruptly, causing a few of the other agents to jump. Without a word, she walked around the table to the door, and left the room and other agents behind her. She was, of course, aware of Clint following behind.

"Em." He said it normally at first, then louder, "Em!" He caught up to her and grabbed her wrist. His movement pushed her over the edge. Grabbing his wrist with her other hand, she spun around and twisted it behind his back, than rammed him against the walls. Several agents had stopped in the hall and were watching the scene. Everything was completely still for a moment as she pressed Clint against the wall.

"Agent Coulson." The deep, stern voice of Fury spoke from down the hall. Emily shoved Clint against the wall slightly, then released him, taking a step back.

"I'll see you at the jet, Barton, don't be late." She was practically spewing knives at him with her tone. Twisting around, she started walking down the hallway once again, other agents jumping out of her way as she went. Deep down she knew that Fury was right, she couldn't be in the lead of this mission. She was too close to it, but that didn't ease her anger. It still boiled up inside her. Finally, she came to the door to the room she was staying in and entered, slamming the it shut behind her. Before even thinking about what she was doing, she balled her hand into a fist and shoved it into the wall.

OOOOO

 _"_ _I do not want to do this, my dear." he approached her, the scalpel in hand. Emily knit her eyebrows, what had he just called her? 'My Dear'? Who the hell was this guy?_

 _"_ _Ok, well look, maybe it would help if you just tell me what it is that you want. Maybe if you tell me that, I could help. There's no need for, "She gestured towards the object in his hand, "that."_

 _He smiled at her again, lowing the scalpel to his side and walking closer to her. When he was less than a foot from her, he reached out his hand and stroked her cheek. Far too gently. Shivers ran down her spine. A frown suddenly crossed over his face and her then moved his hand so that his palm was covering her forehead._

 _"_ _It has not started yet..." He said urgently. Emily tried to pull her face away from his hand, but from her position she only managed to pull away less than an inch._

 _"_ _What the hell are you talking about? What do you want?" She almost yelled it at him. He dropped a finger to her lips._

 _"_ _Please, be quiet, I must concentrate." He pressed his hand against her forehead once again, this time closing his own eyes._ This guy is fucking crazy, _she thought to herself. After seconds had passed, he pulled his hand away from her head and took a few steps back._

 _"_ _Who are you and what do you want?"_

 _"_ _Silence." Suddenly the metal door opened again and another man stepped through. Emily's suddenly couldn't focus her eyes, everything blurred. What the hell? Had he poisoned her? The other man who had entered the room interrupted her thoughts and spoke in Russian._

 ** _"_** ** _Sir, their team will be here in less than ten minutes. We must leave soon."_**

 ** _"_** ** _Pack up, I shall join you shortly."_** _Standike responded. The other man gave a short nod and left the room. Standike turned back towards Emily and whispered to her, still in Russian. "_ ** _I am sorry, my dear, but there is something I must do. Something that is needed to start the process. It will hurt, but in the end it will all be worth it."_**

 _Emily could barely comprehend the words, but knew that something was about to happen, something that would not be pleasant._

 _OOOOO_

 _17:35-_

Emily knew being backup wasn't going to be fun, but she didn't think it was going to be as bad as this. A small team of four agents, plus her, were all seated in the back of the news van. It was hot, stuffy, and smelled worse than her old college dorm. The space they had would have been fine, had there not been five of them. It was killing her. It seemed like she could feel the others breaths on her, and every sound they made amplified in her ears. The other four agents hadn't spoken a word, Emily assumed it was because they were terrified of her. They all knew this mission had put her off. None of them dared make a sound, they just sat in silence, giving each other sideways glances of terror.

Large headphones were over her ears, feeding her the conversations that were happening around Clint. He was currently chatting with a business man about the weather. Emily listened intently to every word, and studied the security monitors in the van that were hooked up to the buildings cameras, for any sign of Standike. Deciding that Clint's current conversation wasn't proving to be of importance, she slipped off the headphones and grabbed a different pair. These fed her everything going on around Agent Daniels. She was currently sitting at the bar, sipping on a cocktail and flirting with a man in an expensive suit. Nothing important there either. Emily slipped off the headphones and sighed angrily. This didn't feel right to her. None of it did. Thoughts race through her mind as she recalled the file on Standike, which she had memorized weeks earlier.

Suddenly, something on one of the monitors caught her eye. A group of four men had just entered the party, and one of them looked familiar... She leaned forward in her chair and squinted her eyes. The footage she had was blurry, but then and there she was almost 100% sure of who she was looking at. Grabbing a pair of headphones again, she pressed a button on a microphone and spoke into it calmly.

"Barton, Daniels, south side of the room, four men just entered. One of them appears to be Standike, can't confirm, but it looks like him." A moment later Daniels had excused herself away from the bar and was heading to where Standike may have been. Clint did the same, politely leaving the other business man to himself. _This is it,_ Emily thought to herself, _let's just hope everything will go to plan._ Over another com system that only went to her she heard Phil's calm voice.

"Emily, remember, backup only."

Irritation itched away at her. She should have been the one who was out there, at the gala, but instead here she was cooped up inside a stinky van with four unexperienced agents.

Suddenly the man who was presumed to be Standike ducked away from the crowd that he'd mingled into and shuffled towards a side door. He disappeared from the view of all the cameras. Her irritation melted into anxiousness. She hurriedly switched through the different camera angles, but none showed where he had gone. Clint's voice suddenly sounded over the comms.

"I have confirmation on Standike, it's him. He's going into a side corridor, I'm heading after him." After he spoke, Daniels responded,

"Right behind you, Barton."

"Be aware, we don't have visual beyond that door." Emily added in the conversation.

"Got it, moving in." Clint responded. Emily watched as Clint disappeared through the door after Standike, fallowed seconds later by Daniels. Anxiously, Emily sat in the van, eyes focused on the monitor that the two other agents had just disappeared into. No sounds came through the comms, neither agents updating yet. Everything was dead silent, everyone too scared to speak. Emily cracked her knuckles, the sounds amplifying throughout the van.

 _Four minutes._ It's been four minutes since they'd gone in and nothing. Emily pressed the button on the microphone that connected to the SHIELD base.

"Phil, it's been four minutes, I think we should consider making a move." There was a small crackle as Phil's voice sounded over the line.

"Stay put Emily, you go in only on orders from Fury."

"Yes Sir." She spoke through gritted teeth, pushing the microphone away from her in annoyance. Just sitting here was killing her. She wasn't meant to be in the van. Her place was the field, it was always the field. _eight minutes._ This wasn't right, something was wrong. She stared at the microphone, debating something in her head. Her eyes flashed back to the monitor screen, still showing the closed door.

"This is ridiculous." She spoke as she pushed herself up from her chair and grabbed the gun from the counter. Making sure it was loaded, she shoved it into her holster and made her way to the back van door.

"What the hell are you doing?" One of the agents asked her accusingly.

"I'm going in to see what the hell is happening. Both Barton and Daniels have been offline for more than nine minutes, now I don't care what anyone says, somethings wrong, and I'm going to go find out what the hell it is. Report me if you wish, I'm still going in." The other agent didn't even get to respond before she was out of the van, slamming the car door in his face.

The party was invite only, which meant she wasn't going to be able to get in through the front. Of course that wasn't really a problem for her, she'd simply sneak in through the staff entrance. The van was parked a safe block away from the building that the party was held in, taking it three minutes for her to get to the entrance. It was bustling with workers carrying trays of food out to the main area, hanging coats up safely in the coat closet, and doing dozens of other tasks. She kept her head down, grabbing a white blazer from a group of them hanging on some hooks and slipping it on, making sure she covered her weapon. Before making her way out to the main area she picked up a silver tray filled with glasses of champagne.

Stepping through the doors was like entering another world. Instead of the madness in the back the room was filled with soft music and people conversing, laughing. She bee lined across the room to the door that the others had disappeared into. As she reaches the door she dropped the tray off at a small table, no longer needing it. Looking up to make sure no one was paying attention to her movements, she pushed open the door and slipped through.

OOOOO

"What the hell is she doing? I gave her direct orders to STAY PUT." Fury yelled to no one in particular as he watched agent Emily Coulson appear on the security camera and enter the door that Agents Barton and Daniel had gone into minutes before. He knew that in reality he would never have been able to keep her in the van, but her direct ignorance of his orders made him fume. She hadn't brought a comm with her, there was no way he could contact her until she returned to the van, and when she did he was going to have a very long discussion with her about following orders. She was not going to get out of this one as easily as she usually did.

OOOOO

The door lead to an empty, quiet and dark hallway. Without making a noise, Emily took off the blazer and pulled her gun out of her holster. She held her weapon in front of her as she made her way down the hall. Every door was closed and every light was off, except for one at the end of the hall. The door seemed to be cracked open, letting a small amount of yellow light pour into the hall. Going as silently as possible, she walked slowly towards the door.

When she'd finally reached it she pushed herself up against the wall and slowly peaked her head around the corner into the room. What she saw made her quickly twist towards the door and rush in. Clint laid on the ground unconscious, his upper body leaning against the wall. She knelt down next to him and pressed her fingers to his neck. Relief flushed through her and she felt his steady pulse. His breathing was even, but he was out cold. She could see a large bruise forming on his temple.

"Clint what the hell happened..." She whispered to herself.

"I did, Miss Coulson." The sudden voice made her jump up and turn to face the other side of the room, her gun pointed towards the voice. Standike stepped forward from the shadows. Emily cursed at herself for not surveilling the room well enough.

"Ethan Standike, you will come with me to SHIELD where you will be punished for the crimes you've committed." Her voice was firm and threatening, but it was met with only a laugh.

"I do not think so."

Emily suddenly felt the cold barrel of a gun press up against her neck.

"Drop your weapon, Emily." A woman's voice spoke, one that Emily immediately recognized. Her eyes closed, taking in a breath of anguish. Putting her hands up and letting the woman take her gun, she turned around to face Agent Daniels, who had a foul smirk on her face. Emily glared at her.

"Daniels. I knew something was off about you. How long have you been working both sides?"

"Mr. Standike contacted me a month ago when I was working a mission and offered me something..."

"He makes you an offer and just like that you're his?"

"He made me an offer I couldn't refuse..." She leaned in closer to Emily, "An offer to help get you out of SHIELD so I can take my rightful place." Her smirk turned to a full evil smile. Standike approached the two women from behind Emily, a laugh escaping his lips.

"Yes, Miss Daniels has proven to be quite useful..." He held out his hand at Daniels, gesturing to hand him Emily's gun. Daniels willingly handed it over. He checked if it was loaded. "But unfortunately that was not precisely the deal, and I am afraid that her part in this engagement is now over." Without hesitation he pointed the gun at Daniels and fired a shot aimed at her head. Blood splatted against the doorway behind them and her body fell to the ground. He grabbed Emily and pressed the gun against her side. "Now, let's go for a walk, shall we?" he nudged her towards the door, making her step over the bloodied body in front of them. Before exiting the room, Emily's gaze shifted to Clint, who was still on the ground.

"Don't worry, darling, he is fine. Come along now." He pushed her into the hall, still pressing the gun to her side. She could feel her heartbeat as it banged against her chest.

"Where are we going?" She dared not try anything at the moment, Standike was a skilled assassin. All he had to do was tense his finger and a bullet would plant itself painfully into her side.

"You shall see soon." They walked down the corridor, turning into other halls until they came to a door that seemed to lead outside. Standike pushed her forward into the door, keeping the gun trained steadily at her. "Open the door." He demanded. With a large amount of doubt, she pushed the door open, a cool breeze blowing in her face. Once again she felt the presence of a gun barrel pressing her forward. She took in her surroundings, studying them, looking for possible escape routes. Suddenly something clicked in her mind, a feeling of déjà vu crashed over her. They were in a garden. Rose bushes lined the court yard, other bright flowers planted all around them. _This isn't possible..._ She thought to herself. She turned all around, taking in what she was seeing. This place, this garden, was exactly what she had seen earlier...

Only now did she realize that she had stopped, and that the gun was no longer pressed against her side. She spun around and faced Standike, trying not to stumble.

"You've seen it before, haven't you?" His tone held a creepy sense of anticipation.

"No...no that's not possible..." She felt her head start to spin.

"This can all be explained, all you have to do is come with me. I can help you understand." He reached his hand out, she jerked away.

"Get the hell away from me. This is all you, trying to screw with me." She felt dizzy.

"It is you-" His sentence was interrupted by an alarm going off. He pulled up his hand and looked at his watch. "We do not have time for this." He pointed the gun at her again. "You will come with me, now." He took a moment to turn off the alarm on his watch, taking his eyes off her for merely a second.

Emily took advantage of his moment of unawareness and lunged at him, knocking him off his feet and too the ground. The gun that was in his hand skidded across the ground. From her position on the she started punching him. A thought crossed her mind as she realized this was exactly how she'd seen this earlier. _But, that means..._ she stopped and turned her head as a loud bang sounded, fire filling the air and lighting the dark sky. The explosion was close to them, very close. It had to have been at the party. There was nothing she could do, no time to save anyone. Only seconds later the explosion hit them, flinging her yards away from where they had just been. Her head rammed against the ground. A single thought remained in her mind as her vision faded. _Clint._

OOOOO

 _Standike took his empty hand and set it gently on her shoulder, bringing his other hand that held the large scalpel to her side. Her mind was still fuzzy, not completely clear of things going on around her. He pulled her head slightly forward, positioning his close to hers._

 ** _"_** ** _Close your eyes, it will be over soon."_** _He spoke to her in Russian. Strangely, she felt an aura of calm, letting her eyes drift shut. Her foggy mind came to rest, finding a peaceful place around her. Moments later the peace was shattered as Standike drove the scalpel into her side, tearing it slightly down as he did, pressing his hand harder into her shoulder. A shattering scream escaped from her lips as pain overtook her. Her eyes shot open and she looked down at her side, seeing blood dripping from the large, fresh wound. The pain grew until she couldn't focus on anything else._

 _Standike threw the scalpel to the ground, stepping away from her and leaving her crying in pain, hanging. He grabbed a single white cloth from the table and wiped her blood off his hands. After he had gotten most of it off he grabbed a jacket that was hanging on a rack. He spoke again._

 _"_ _Your team will be here soon. You should survive till then. I genuinely hope you do."_ _He walked to the door. "Goodbye, Emily. I hope that our paths will cross again."_

 _OOOOO_

Emily awoke to a light shining down on her. She blinked several times before her eyes adjusted and she realized where she was. It was a SHIELD recovery room back at base. Pain surged through her as she tried to pull herself up.

"Whoa, whoa." Phil appeared next to her, gently pushing her back onto the bed. "Stay down. You've been hurt pretty badly. Concussion, broken ribs, fractured arm. You couldn't have just stayed in the van?" He smiled, and she let out a small laugh, immediately regretting it as her chest screamed in agony. "Do you remember what happened, Emily?"

"I went in to the building...Standike was there..." Her mind started to clear. "Daniels, she...she was working for him...and there was an explosion." Her eyes widened. "Clint, he was in the building when it happened. Where is he?"

"Emily..." Phil looked to the ground, a sad look crossing over his face.

"Dad...dad where is he?" Her tone was more urgent as she asked again. She started to sit up, but her body didn't allow it. He only gave her a saddened look. She felt tears form. "No. No he cant be... He cant be!" She pressed herself back against the pillow, starting to lose control of her emotions. Phil leaned towards her and grabbed her hand as she let her tears overtake her.

Two rooms away, Fury stood in another recovery room, looking down upon agent Barton, who was slowly stirring. Suddenly his eyes opened fully and he sat straight up in the bed, looking around urgently. Fury was there to hold him back.

"Agent Barton, calm down. You're back at the SHEILD facility. There was an explosion, the mission went wrong, do you remember?" He asked, getting directly to the point. Barton nodded, his confusion seeming to pass. He brought a hand up to his face and rubbed it, feeling the bandage that was taped to his head. Fury watched as another thought seemed to dawn on Barton's mind.

"Where...where's Emily?" His voice was raspy and tired. Fury looked down, then directly at him.

"I'm sorry Clint, but she was caught in the blast."

"What...what are you saying?"

"She's dead."

 **I hope you guys liked it! Please leave a comment if you have any comments or tips. I'll try and get the next chapter up in the next couple of weeks!**


	3. Chapter 1

**I am so so so sorry guys! I have not posted in forever! Ahh! My family and I were in the middle of a move so I don't have much time to write, but we are almost all done so I promise I will try to start posting regularly!**

 **Here's the next part, Chapter 1. It's not very long, so sorry for that, but I'll try and post Chapter two in the next couple of weeks. I hope you all enjoy! Thank you for reading!**

Chapter 1

8 years later

2012

Washington D.C.

"Where in the hell are my keys?" Emily raced around the small living room, upturning pillows and blankets in search of her lost car keys. A frustrated sound escaped her lips as her search failed to yield any results. She stopped short when she noticed a woman leaning against the doorframe to the room. She was still in her pajamas, a white tank top and grey sweats. A red mug was held in her left hand, steam drifting out of the cup and dissolving into the air. In her other hand she had key chain dangling from the her fingers.

"You really need to start putting them away when you come home." The woman stated from her spot. Emily started walking towards the other woman, a large, relieved smile on her face.

"Yeah, yeah. Whatever." Emily stole the keys from her as she tried to pass by, but before she could, the other grabbed her by the hips and twist her towards her, pressing their lips together. The kiss lasted until both of them had run out of breath, and as they pulled away smiles were plastered on their faces. Emily wrapped her arms around the other woman and rested her head in the crook of the others neck.

"I should head out soon. I have to be in New York by 1:30." She breathed out.

"It's only six, you have plenty of time."

"Add an hour for traffic."

"You'd still be on time if you just delayed it for say...half an hour..."

"Cait..." Emily said it in a half serious voice.

"Alright alright." The other woman pulled away enough to look Emily in the eye, but still have her arms wrapped around her waste. "Did you say goodbye to Frank?"

"I said goodbye last night." Emily smiled at her.

"You've eaten breakfast?"

"Yes."

"And you have all your case files?"

"Yes."

"And your badge?"

"Yes!" There was a pause as she quickly patted her jean pocket, double checking that her badge was in fact there. Cait noticed her movement, and before Emily could reach for it, slipped her hand into Emily's pocket and took out the small, black leather case, shaking her head jokingly.

"Hey, well I did have it!" Emily protested. Cait smiled and opened up the leather wallet, her eyes scanning over the badge and ID card. On it were the large, dark blue letters that read _FBI_ , and under it _Special Agent Emma Collins_. Emily took the badge from Cait, putting it back in her pocket.

"Don't worry I have everything I need." Emily chuckled at her worried partner, who let out a small sigh, leaning in for another kiss.

"I'm gonna miss you."

"I'll only be gone five days. I'll be back before you know it." Emily gave her another kiss before pulling away and grabbing the bags that sat on one of the chairs.

"I'll see you in five days. Don't go and do anything too stupid, like end up in the hospital. Again."

"I promise I won't end up in a hospital. Don't worry, Cait, I'll be fine." Emily gave her one last kiss, letting it last longer than the one before. When it was over, they made their way to the front door. Emily opened it and stepped out of the house, heading to the car that was parked in the drive way. She opened the side door and tossed her bag inside.

Cait was leaning against the doorway, her coffee back in hand. She smiled at Emily as as she loaded up her stuff.

"Are you picking up Aaron on your way out of town?" Cait asked her.

"Yep." She shut the back door and made her way to the drivers side.

"Tell him that if you get hurt I'm blaming him."

"Oh he knows." Emily jumped into the drivers seat, sticking the key into the ignition and turning it. She rolled down the window, "I'll see you Saturday, love you!"

"I love you too!" Cait waved as Emily pulled out of the driveway and started down the quiet residential road.

The drive to where Aaron, her FBI partner, lived took only thirteen minutes. She pulled up to the curb outside of his house and honked the horn once, signifying she had arrived. A moment later the door to the house opened and he came out, dressed in blue jeans and a plaid button up shirt. As he approached the car, Sadie, Aaron's girlfriend, appeared in the doorway, waving at him. He turned around and waved back at her. Sadie redirected the wave in Emily's direction and she waved back, smiling at the red head.

Aaron opened the car door, tossing his bags inside and hopping into the passengers seat.

"How goes it, partner?" He asked Emily cheerfully. As she pulled away from the house she responded,

"Why the hell are you so cheery today?"

"Well," he drew out the vowel, "Sadie proposed."

"So in other words, she had the guts to do what you've been too scared to do for months?" She sent him a smirk. "Congratulations. It's about time." Patting him on the should, she added, "I only assume I'll be the best man?" Her eyebrow rose.

"Oh please god, we all know my brother is way too immature for that." They both chuckled.

OOOOO

The drive was the exact same drive as it had been the past four times they'd made it. In her mind she counted down the hours that remained. _One hour and sixteen minutes._ She wished that this case would just end, that they'd catch the guy and be over and done with it. No more trips to New York twice a month, just normal work in D.C at the bureau, and more time at home.

Next to her, Arron slept in the passenger seat, quiet snores escaped from his lips, but other than that and the constant hum of the road, there was no other noise. She silently took her hand off the steering wheel and reached for the radio. Turning the knob, she set the volume on a low setting and flipped to a news channel, cutting through a sentence,

"-arding the strange occurrence in New Mexico a few days ago, still no new information, but military forces have released a statement saying that is was nothing but a weapons test that had uncalled for out-"

She switched the channel again, skimming through until she finally gave up on trying to find something and turned it back off. Returning her hand back to the steering wheel, she drummed her thumbs gently against it, trying to entertain herself in anyway. She hated road trips, always had. No matter how long or short they were, she hated them. Being trapped in a small metal box for long periods of time did not make her happy. She took an elongated breath and whispered to herself.

"One hour, 14 minutes more. Just one hour... and 14 minutes..."

OOOOO

The hotel that the agency had booked them out was an average Holiday Inn, right in the center of New York City. Emily stood in her room, looking out of the large panel window. She was on the top floor and the view was beautiful. From the window, she could see Stark Tower looming out from behind the shorter buildings. The gigantic letters _STARK_ were plastered on the top. She shook her head slowly, and moved her thoughts to the meeting her and Aaron had to attend in an hour.

The files she had were laid out on the table. Pictures, documents and her own personal notes were all inside. This case had gone on for months without any luck catching the guy. Until now. They finally had a lead, and they all hoped that this would finally be the end. If it wasn't, that meant more trips to the New York bureau, more time away from home.

A knock interrupted her thoughts. She got up from the desk and made her way to the door. Looking through the peep hole, she recognized Aaron standing outside. She unlocked the door and let him enter, sending him a warm greeting as she did so.

"Hey your room has a view, no fair." He stated as he walked over to the window.

"I'm not sure an overrated tower built by a raging egomaniac can be considered a view." Her eyes drifted back to Stark Tower. Aaron pulled out his phone and snapping a picture before turning back to her.

"Oh c'mon, lighten up Em." He said jokingly. For a moment Emily stopped, before continuing her research in the files.

"Since when do you call me Em?" She asked in a quiet tone.

"Well, we've been partners for almost two years now. I figu-"

"Don't."

"What."

"Don't...call me Em. Please." Her voice was low, maybe even threatening, although she didn't mean for it to be.

"Okay..." Aaron sat down in the empty armchair, his feelings obviously hurt.

"Sorry, it's just...a friend used to call me that," She kept her eyes fixed on the paper she was reading. "And he's gone now. Ever since he," she paused for a moment before continuing, " _died,_ I haven't let anyone call me that. So don't worry, it's not just you." She sent him a half hearted smile. After a moments hesitation, Aaron softly spoke.

"Your friend, is he the one who died in the army?" He asked. She hesitated before simply nodding her head. Part of her felt bad for having to lie to those closest to her, but what else could she have told everyone? _I was part of a super secret spy agency no one knows exists, until my partner, and closest friend, was murdered by a psychopath who set off a bomb killing dozens of people including himself?_ She didn't think that explanation would cut it.

Silence passed between them for a while until Emily looked a the clock.

"We should get going soon." she spoke. Aaron stood up from the chair.

"I gotta get some stuff from my room. I'll meet you in the lobby." His statement was met by a quiet word of agreement from Emily. As he walked out he spoke again, "And hey, maybe on the way back we can drive by the overrated tower built by the 'raging egomaniac'." His comment caused her to chuckle lightly, but when he left the room her smile faded. Slowly, she reached into her bag for her wallet. She flipped it open, taking out a picture from behind her drivers license. The edges of it were bent slightly, and the color had started to fade years ago, but you could still see the picture on it clearly.

She and Clint stood side by side, both in their tactical gear and both smiling. It was a tired smile on their faces, but a happy one. She scanned over the picture, even though she already knew every inch of it. It was taken after their first team mission, it had been simple and preformed perfectly, no biggie, but her father had insisted he wanted a picture of them. _"I want to look at this picture years from now and remember it perfectly. My little girl all grown up. The best agent in SHIELD...and you're pretty good too, Clint."_

The thought of it made her smile. It was a sad smile though, one that almost brought tears to her eyes. After she had put the photo safely back in it's spot behind her license, she pulled out her phone and typed a text.

' _Hey dad, just wanted to check in. Hope work is going well. Love you.'_

She pressed the send button, then stuffed her phone back into her bag, grabbing the files and stuffing them in too. As she was gathering up her stuff her phone buzzed. It was a message from Aaron.

 _I'm in the lobby, you coming?_

A quick response was sent as she picked up her pace, grabbing her bag and heading out the door. Phil hadn't texted her back yet, leaving her with a strange feeling, but she pushed it aside. After all, her father still worked at SHIELD, and she knew exactly how busy he could get. He'd text back eventually, he always did, until then she'd just have to go to her meeting and live her, in comparison to his, boring life.

OOOOO

Fury stood over the lifeless body of Phil Coulson, the man who had once been his right hand, his best agent, some might even say 'friend'. But those days were over now, he was gone, and what was worse is that he had just used Phil death to push the so called Avengers forward. He ruined Phil's prized possessions, to benefit himself. _No. It had to be done. For the safety of the world and everyone in it. If our positions were reversed he'd do the same thing._

A noise interrupted him. A phone, _Phil's_ phone. Fury moved to the other side of the table where Phil's phone had been placed. It was a text. Unlocking the phone, he read it to himself,

' _Hey dad, just wanted to check in. Hope work is going well. Love you.' -Emily_

What ever good feelings he had had left shattered away. He'd already torn Emily Coulson's life apart. Lied to her, made her leave SHIELD, made her change her name. Everything that she had ever been, he stole from her, and now he'd stolen one of the only people she had left. A storm of anger washed through him and he chucked the phone against the wall, shattering it into pieces.

"Damn it!" He leaned on the counter oppisite of the table where Coulson laid, gripping the edged until his knuckles turned white. A light suddenly came on in his head as he remembered something he had read about in an old SHIELD file. He hit a button on his phone and raised it to his ear. "Greyson, it's director Fury. I need you to pull out every file we have that mentions _Project Tahiti."_ Hanging up, he slammed the phone onto the counter and turned back towards Phil's body. "I am not letting you die, Coulson."


	4. Chapter 2

**Hey guys! Here's the next part, much sooner than I expected. It's not very long, so for that I apologize. I'll get the next chapter out soon. Thank you for reading! Enjoy!**

Chapter 2

Aaron drove this time, letting Emily sit in the passenger seat for the duration of the twenty minute ride to the NYC FBI building. They were both silent, him concentrating on navigating the busy roads, and her flipping through her phone. As they came to a stop at a red light, Aaron looked over at her.

"Whatcha reading?" He spoke up, causing her to jump slightly and look up at him.

"Oh," She flashed her eyes back to her phone, "nothing, I'm just waiting for a text." She smiled at him.

"Cait?" He pondered.

"No, actually, my uh...my father." Her comment received a simple nod from her partner, the short conversation coming to an end. They sat in silence for another five minutes, Emily still staring at her phone, until Aaron spoke once again,

"How is Cait doing? I haven't seen her since..." He drifted off, leaving his thought incomplete. But she knew what he was referring to.

"She's good, still recovering, but better." She paused. "She still has nightmares sometimes. Not as frequently as it once was, but a couple times a week usually."

"And Franky?"

"Oh, Frank's doing great," She smiled, "doesn't even realize anything happened I think."

"That's good." He sent her a smile.

"Yeah," She turned her head to look out the window again, pressing her forehead against the glass "yeah..."

OOOOO

"This is the first lead we've had for months, and if we don't jump on this _now,_ we will lose it, and be back at the beginning. I say we set up our agents and move in on this guy." Special Agent Mckillian of the NYC bureau spoke, his voice held a serious and urgent tone.

"All we have is a blurry picture of a man we suspect is our perp, at a hotel across the street from the target, are we sure this is enough to go on?" Aaron cut in, "I mean we don't even now what our guy actually looks like. We're going off what the profilers have told us. Yes, this guy fits, but we don't have enough to go on. If we move in on him and he's not the guy, we risk spooking the real perp, and then he runs and we lose everything we've gained.

"Well what are you suggesting?" McKillian leaned back on his chair and crossed his arms over his chest. Emily cut in,

"We monitor the guy, closely. Get a warrant to bug his hotel room, have an agent on him at all times. We make sure he never leaves our sight. If he does one thing that points to him being our guy, then and only then we move in." She tapped her pen against her fist as she spoke. Everyone's gaze moved to Agent Surence, Chief of the NYC office. After a moments contemplation, Surence spoke

"Agents Collins and and Levins are right." She stated, "Put in a request for the warrants that w-" Her sentence was interrupted by a deep rumbling, one that came not just from the ground, but from above them. Everything shook, causing pens and glasses of water to fall off of the briefing room table and crash to the floor.

"What the hell?" Aaron started to say, "Is it an earthquake?" He gripped the side of the table for support as he came to stand. Emily gazed out the window, her eyes growing wide as she too pushed herself up from her chair, slowly making her way to the large window.

"No...I don't think it's an earthquake...holy shit..." She spoke quietly, but the others fallowed her gaze, looking to the sky. Something was forming, and as she looked at it, she saw what was beyond it. Stars. It was a hole in the sky, and through it she could see space.

"What in the hell is that?" One of the agents asked urgently, but before anyone could even think of a response, what looked like small ships flew through the hole, hundreds of them. They shot at the ground, cars and small buildings exploding. Emily was the first of the agents to snap back into reality.

"We need to get everyone down to a lower floor."

"What? No! We need to stay put!" Agent McKillian insisted. She stepped up close to him, looking him in the eye.

"Agent, what looks like a portal just opened in the sky, and what looks like beings from another planet are coming through. Now I don't know what you take out of that, but from where I'm standing, they don't look like their here to get together and drink tea. We are thirty-six stories up, and there's six more floors filled with even more people above us. Those apparent aliens are flying, which means a higher floor is exactly where we don't want to be. So I'm going to say this one more time. We need to get us, and everyone else in this building to a lower floor _now!"_

The other agent swallowed, then nodded. Everyone snapped to attention, hurriedly picking up their things, rushing out of the briefing room and into the main office. The chief yelled instructions to the other agents, telling everyone to calmly make their way down the stairs. Aaron appeared by Emily's side as she ushered fellow agents and others to the stairwell.

"We should go too." He spoke.

"I'm not leaving until everyone else is out, and when I'm done with this floor I'm checking the one below it too, and the one below that." She declared.

"Emma..."

"I'm not moving!"

"Fine." He stood next to her and started to help direct.

"What are you doing?" She asked him.

"If you're not leaving, I'm not leaving. We're partners, we stick together." He flashed her a half smile, trying to reassure her, and himself.

Five minutes later the floor was cleared. Emily nodded at Aaron and they entered the stairwell, rushing down to the next floor. They burst through the door, entering an eerily empty cubicle filled room. Emily shouted, waiting for any signs of someone still on the floor. When there was no response they turned to leave for the next floor, but something caught Emily's eye, and she turned to look at the possible portal in the sky. _What in the hell is that coming out?_ Urgency rose even higher in her as a gigantic creature flew through the portal. It was far away from the building they were in, but both of them took a step back and looked at each other.

"We need to pick up the pace."

"Yep." They raced to the next floor, crashing through the door. Emily yelled again, and this time, to both their surprise, a voice responded to them. They followed the voice across the room and found a young woman standing in an office.

"What are you still doing in here?" Emily asked quickly.

"I...I was in the bathroom and then I came out and everyone was gone and the sky..the sky it-"

"I know, I know. Right now you need to get down to a lower floor ok? Can you do that for us?" Emily tried to give the woman a smile, and she nodded.

"Y...yes."

"Ok, ok good. Go, go now and don't stop till you're safe ok? Now go!"

The woman hurried to the stairwell, practically kicking down the door as she did so. Emily shouted once more, this time getting no response.

"Alright, we're good here, lets-" She stopped as she felt her back pocket and found it empty. She quickly patted the other pocket too, still finding nothing. "Oh no. no no no."

"Emma whats wrong?" Aaron asked, worry lacing his voice.

"My wallet, it's gone. Where is it?" She looked around on the floor they were currently on hoping that maybe, just maybe, it had fallen out here. She had no such luck, and a realization suddenly hit her. It was up on the briefing room floor, she had taken it out when she sat down. "It's upstairs, in the briefing room I have to go back and get it."

"Emma, you cant go back up there, it's just a wallet!" Aaron shouted at her as she ran towards the stairwell. He ran after her. " Stop! It's just a wallet, you can get a new one!"

"It's not the wallet I need!" She yelled at him, continuing up the stairs, skipping two steps at a time. By the time she reached the floor she needed, her lungs were burning, but she pressed on to the back of the floor and to the room. As suspected, her wallet sat on the table. She grabbed it and flipped it open, pulling out the picture behind her ID. A sigh of relief escaped her lips as she found it still safely there.

"Emma! We need to go!" Aaron yelled from the middle of the floor. She stuffed the wallet in her pocket and rushed out to where Aaron was. "What the hell was that?" He practically yelled at her. She didn't respond, only started to walk past him and to the stairs when the window directly to their left shattered and something fell through it.

Shards of glass flew towards them. They shielded their faces, trying to protect themselves. A small shard flew slightly too close and grazed her arm. When the glass stopped flying past they lowered their hands, seeing that the thing that had broke through the window was not a thing, but a man. He groaned in pain, slowly rolling over. As he did it revealed a quiver strapped to his back and a bow gripped tightly into his hand. She studied it, a feeling creeping onto her, but she pushed it away. _It's not him, he's dead._ With a grunt, the man who had just fallen through the window rolled over and began to stand.

"Who the hell are you? And why did you just...fall through the window...?" Aaron questioned as the man stood, facing away from them. What sounded like a snort came from the man as he responded,

"What that's the strangest thing you've seen today?" He said it as he started to turn. Emily's blood ran cold when he spoke. His voice, one that sounded too much like...

"Sorry bout the window though, I-" He cut off as he turned to face them, his and Emily's eye locking on to each other. She froze, not able to move, or speak, or breath. Everything stopped. Their was no longer a giant portal in the sky, no longer aliens in the city, Aaron was no longer standing next to her. She was just there, staring into the two grey eyes that she never thought she'd see again. The two eyes that she hadn't seen in eight years. The two eyes that she would never, ever forget.


	5. Chapter 3

**Hey everyone! Here's the next chapter. Thank you guys so much for reading, you guys are awesome! Leave a comment if you have any suggestions or advice or anything.**

 **Enjoy!**

Chapter Three

Clint Barton had made a lot of stupid, and ultimately painful, decisions in his life, and jumping off of a forty story building and swinging through an inch thick piece of glass was near the top of the list. Right below signing up to fight a war against aliens with nothing but arrows.

Crashing through the window wasn't even the most painful part, it was the landing. His body slammed against the floor as shards of glass dug into his skin, leaving cuts all over. He arched his back, groaning. He was only slightly aware that there were other people in the room he'd just flown in to, and as he heard someone speak he began to stand.

"Who the hell are you? And why did you just...fall through the window...?" A man questioned unsurely. Clint was faced the other way as he started to stand, and snorted in response to the mans question.

"What that's the strangest thing you've seen today?" A gust of wind blew towards him from the broken window, and he spoke again as he turned towards the voice. "Sorry 'bout the window though, I-" He stopped as he came to face two people, one man, obviously the one who had spoken, and a woman... His eyes locked on to hers and they both stared into each other, neither of them moving. _It cant be..._ He thought to himself as he looked across at a face he hadn't seen in such a long time.

OOOOO

For a split second the Earth stopped turning, time stopped ticking, and Emily stopped breathing. The whole universe came to a screeching halt. Everything. Even her heart seemed to no longer beat in her chest. Instead, the only thing that was in the universe was the man standing in front of her. The man with piercing blue-gray eyes, short and messy, dirty blonde hair, and an ever so subtle half inch scar on the bottom of his chin.

Her own eyes widened, trying and failing to hide her surprise as old emotions and memories surfaced, ones she hadn't felt for almost a decade. She could tell that he too was being hit by a wall of emotion as the features of his face faltered for a moment. This lasted for seconds, before her common sense finally kicked in. _This is not him, it can't be_. All at once the world started to spin, this time at light speed.

She aimed her gun up, her finger already placed on the trigger, but he was ready for her and in one swift motion, swung his bow at her and knocked the glock out of her hand. Without hesitation, her body flung into action. She sent a high kick to where he had his grip on the bow, at the same time grabbing the edge of it and pulling. It slipped from his hands and skid across the floor. He instantly recovered and aimed a punch to her side. As she tried to regain her stance, he grabbed her by the shoulders and pulled her downward, bringing his knee in contact with her nose. Trying to ignore the pain, she grabbed his left hand from her shoulder and twisted it, getting out of his hold but not seeming to hurt him much.

The two's fight was interrupted by Aaron body slamming Cl-, _NO! It was not him!_ she yelled in her mind. Aaron caught the man off guard, but his attack did not help in the long run. The other man got a hold of Aaron, twisting his arm behind his back and shoving him to the ground, _hard_. Emily charged back in, throwing two punches to his head and a kick to his side. He caught her kick and twisted her leg, throwing her to the ground and rolling down on top of her. She crossed her arms over her face, shielding herself from his oncoming attacks. He let up for barely a second, but it was enough. She grabbed his hands and pushed them away, butting her own head against his. His head whiplashed backwards and she used the time to cuff both of her open hands against his ears at the same time. The move disoriented him and she pushed him off, rolling to one side as he stumbled to the other.

As she started to get up, she saw her gun resting on the floor only a foot away from her. As quickly as she could, she reached for it and jumped to her feet, turning around just as the other man pulled Aaron's dropped gun from the floor and pointed it steadily at her. Both stood incredibly still, aiming their guns at one another, eyes filled with rage, hatred, but most of all, confusion. Neither broke the dead silence between them. Not until Aaron slowly pushed himself from the floor, a cut on his forehead where he impacted against the ground. His hands were out in front of him in the universal sign of surrender as he came to stand beside the middle of the other two, the three of them forming a triangle by where they all stood. Aaron shot a glance at Emily, his eyes filled with urgency. She only flickered her eyes to him for a second before returning to the other gunman.

"What in the hell is going on?" Aaron finally broke the silence, keeping his voice as steady as he could. "Who the hell are you?" He turned towards the man, who looked Aaron up and down once.

"The name's Clint Barton." He stated, as he turned and studied her, trying to keep any emotions covered, but Emily saw something flash across his face. Doubt, confusion, panic, even something that could be considered fear seeped into his eyes.

"Clint Barton is dead." Emily spat, her emotions boiling over. Whoever he was, he was a liar. A spy. The man tilted his head ever so slightly.

"So is Emily Coulson." He stared at her, not once breaking their almost painful eye contact. Once again she froze, not daring to move as she tried to keep her face clear of any of the things she currently was feeling.

"Who...is Emily Coulson?" Aaron spoke from where he stood.

She could feel Aaron's gaze on her as the other man spoke. She didn't dare steal a look at her FBI partner, too afraid of what his gaze may hold, instead she focused on the other. _This cant be him. It cannot be him. He died eight years ago, he died in that explosion just like Standike, just like the other dozen innocent people who didn't make it out. He. Died._ She yelled it at herself, but part of her fought back. After all this man looked exactly like him, his eyes, the curves of his face, even the scar on his chin was the same. _It can't be... He's dead_. She thought of the words he had just spoke. _'so is Emily Coulson.'_

All at once thoughts flooded into her mind. _I never saw his body...But Phill wouldn't lie, my father wouldn't lie. Not about this._ She repeated that to herself, trying to make her believe it. She knew the truth, if his job depended on it, her father would do anything, say anything for it.

Clint was dead, she believed that _he_ was dead. But as this man had just said, _she_ was dead. A shaky breath escaped her lips as her thoughts took over, memories flashing into her mind.

 _November 2003_

 _Her eyes could barely stay open as she fell onto the bed, not even bothering to change out of her dirty, sweaty tactical gear first. A moment later a rattling could be heard from the ceiling as the air vent was lifted from its place and her partner silently jumped down. Wordlessly, she scooted over in the bed, leaving enough room for him to slide in behind her. As he did, his arm fell around her waste, pulling them closer together. A content sigh escaped her lips and her eyes finally fell closed, ready for the few hours of slumber she would get. As she began to dose off, he spoke quietly,_

 _"_ _Next time let's go somewhere with a beach."_

 _"_ _Hmm?" She asked half asleep._

 _"_ _You know, next time let's ditch the mission and go somewhere beautiful. Paradise." His voice was laced with exhaustion. She rolled over and faced him, his eyes opening as she did so._

 _"_ _Already there." She spoke, pressing her forehead against his chest._

 _January 2004_

 _This time she was the one who climbed through the rafters, navigating to Clint's room. Without trouble, she found her way and skillfully jumped down into his room. He already laid in his bed, silent but still awake. He scooted over without making a sound and she laid down next to him, taking note of his arm that was wrapped in a large bandage. As she pushed herself close to him and wrapped her arm around him, she mumbled._

 _"_ _We should have gone to paradise." She felt it as he took her hand in his._

 _"_ _Already there."_

 _April 2004_

 _Bullets flew by her, too close for her comfort. Oh who was she kidding? This, the bangs and the bullets was her life. Nothing was 'too close'. As an explosion sounded from across the court yard, Clint's voice came over the comms._

 _"_ _We really should have gone to Paradise."_

 _"_ _Oh come on, explosions, guns, crazy people we've never even met trying to kill us? We're already here!"_

 _January 2005_

 _"_ _We should have gone to the beach."_

 _"_ _You said it wrong."_

 _"_ _We should have gone to paradise."_

 _"_ _Already there."_

She snapped out of the memories, back to New York, pointing her steadily aimed glock at the other man. Even still, more memories of that exchange slipped into her mind. Dozens of times, they said it to each other. As the memories poured in, she chose her next words carefully, going over them in her head before finally speaking.

"We never got to go to Paradise." Her voice was calm, and steady. Beside her, Aaron furrowed his eyebrows and slowly looked at her. She ignored him, concentrating on only the other gunman. His features softened, and the grip on his gun relaxed.

"We were already there." his words sent a shock through her body, seething into every corner until she couldn't handle it anymore. She lowered her gun completely and the world stopped all over again. A tear formed in her eye, falling and rolling down her cheek. In front of her was the man who she believed dead for eight years. He was there. Breathing, alive, _okay_. Still, there was a glimmer of doubt. One that she tried to push down, but still nagged at her.

"But you...you're...dead..." She could no linger contain the in her voice, and it come out shaky and unsure. The gun he held was no longer pointed at her, but simply hanging at his side. She could tell he was still unsure, as his finger still rested calmly but surely on the trigger of his gun.

"So are you." His voice was just as unsure as hers, bringing her a strange feeling of comfort. She took a small step towards him, but stopped as Aaron spoke.

"Would someone tell me what in the hell is going on?" his voice interrupted the moment. Emily turned toward Aaron, catching his confused and suspicious look. As she was about to speak to him, the other- _Clint, it was him. It was really him,_ suddenly tapped his finger against his ear, turning away from her and Aaron, listening. Only then did she realize that he was wearing a communications device in his ear. Although she couldn't hear the person on the other line, she picked up most of the conversation from what Clint said.

"A nuke? What? No, Stark that doesn't seem like a great idea...well I don't know but- fine! I'm on my way." He quickly grabbed his bow from where it had been knocked to the ground and in one movement, placed securely on his back, then turned back towards her. Once again they did nothing but stare for seconds, lost in each other gaze. Neither of them sure of what was happening, until he finally spoke.

"When this is all over, go to Stark Tower." Without saying anything else he walked over to the broken window, peering out and below it. "You know, if the city hasn't been obliterated or taken over by aliens by then." Without warning he jumped off the edge. Both of the FBI agents ran towards the window, just in time to see him land on one of the small alien crafts, pushing the creature off and disappearing around another building. In the moment, even though it seemed like the last thing she should have done, a smile was brought to Emily's face, but it quickly disappeared as what looked like a missile carried by... _is that Ironman?_ flew over the buildings, heading straight for the hole in the sky.

She pushed Aaron and herself slightly away from the window, still able to see the portal, but not too close to the open air. Their eyes were fixed on the flying object, as it started to change course, no longer pointing forward, but now up to the sky. Seconds later it disappeared through the hole, and moments later the gigantic portal started to collapse in on itself, closing.

"Emma tell me what is going on." Aaron practically yelled it at her. As she looked at him, thoughts raced through her mind, and all that came out of her mouth were three measly words.

"I don't know..."


	6. Happy April Fools Day

**April Fools! ;-P**

I'm sorry I'm a horrible person and I got your hopes up, but don't worry! I **will** be uploading the next chapter at some point tomorrow so you don't have to wait too long!

Hope you guys all had a great day and got some good pranks in! (or some good pranks pulled on you)

Bye!


	7. Chapter 4

**Hey everyone! Sorry this took so long to post. Also sorry for my horrible April Fools post, I'm a terrible person I know, but as promised, the next chapter! I dearly hope that everyone enjoys it!**

 **Not sure when I will be able to post the next chapter, but I will try to soon!**

Chapter 4

Natasha Romanoff was not one for showing pain, or any weaknesses for that matter, but after stopping a literal god and his alien army from taking over the planet she figured she earned the right to wince as Rogers washed out a large cut that bled from her hairline. She was seated on a chair in the surprisingly undamaged, besides some small amount of ruble, first floor of Stark Tower. Rogers stood in front of her as he placed a bandage over her wound.

"Sorry." He said, polite as ever.

"I've had worse." She sent him a half smile, but it was replaced by a look of worry as her eyes caught Clint walking across the room. He had ditched his tactical suit top and now wore a simple black shirt. He wasn't doing well, Natasha knew it. She could see the weight that he carried from all the things he'd done under Loki's control on his shoulders. Rogers noticed her gaze.

"How's agent Barton doing?" he spoke. Natasha looked up at him, studying his features for a moment. Neither his tone nor his face was accusing, telling her that he didn't seem to hold and resentment or blame towards Clint. Her inquiry brought her a small amount of relief.

"Knowing him he'll say he's fine."

"I sense a 'but' coming."

"He blames himself."

"It wasn't his fault. He's a good agent, and from what I've gathered about him, a good man." Rogers finished cleaning the cuts and bruises on her face, throwing a piece of gauze that was stained with some of her blood into a trashcan a couple feet from him.

"You know that, I know that, all of us know that," She paused before continuing, "All of us except him." She let out a slow breath, before getting to her feet. "Thanks for the bandage."

"No problem. After all, we're all teammates now." They both looked around the room, eyes glancing over the other so called 'Avengers'. Stark and Thor were speaking to each other, and Natasha heard as Thor stated he would be taking Loki, who was currently sedated and locked away in a holding cell in the subfloor of the tower, and the cube back to Asgard tomorrow, assuring the other that Loki would receive his punishment as Odin saw fit. Banner was sitting in a chair near the two, obviously listening to what the god of thunder was saying.

"Yeah...How'd that happen?" Her comment brought a momentary smile to her and the super soldier, however, hers quickly vanished as she continued to scan the room and found that Clint was nowhere to be seen. The state her partner was in worried her. Ever since Clint had pulled her out of the KGB, they'd always had a special bond, even if it did take her a while to warm up to him. They always knew what the other was thinking or feeling. But not now. She had no idea what was going on in her partners mind and it scared her more than she'd ever admit.

Steve excused himself, politely nodding at her as he walked toward the direction of the others, joining in the conversation. She turned her attention away from them as something caught her eye. Two people entered the tower through the large main entrance, a woman and a man. As soon as the two walked in Natasha was on guard.

The man wore dark jeans, a dress shirt and a black jacket. A pair of aviator sunglasses sat on the top of his head. On her second and closer evaluation, she noticed that his jacket button was undone, and as it swayed against his dress shirt, she saw shoulder holster strapped to his chest. She instantly switched to a defensive state.

Next she evaluated the woman. She wore dark blue jeans with a black top, covered by a brown leather jacket. The woman's jacket was done up slightly, causing Natasha to not be able to see if this intruder had a weapon or not. She watched the woman closely. The way she carried herself and took in her surroundings hinted that she had some knowledge of selfdefense.

 _Who are these people?_ She thought to herself. The two noticed the four other Avengers talking and started walking towards them. Well, w _hen in doubt_ , _prepare for the worst._ She slipped behind a corner out of the view of the two newcomers, silently making sure her pistole was loaded. She listened as someone spoke.

"Oh, yes hi, I'm afraid I'm not signing any autographs right now." It was Stark. "We are actually quite busy right now, so if you could come back another day that'd be gre-"

"Actually," The voice must have been the woman's. "I'm...looking for a Clint Barton?" Her tone sounded unsure, nervous. Natasha didn't like it. She walked around the corner, silently and stealthily, navigating the room so she now approached from behind the two. Her fellow teammates were facing towards her, and noticed as she neared. They all seemed on guard as well. Thor's hand was outstretched just slightly to his side, ready to summon Mjölnir. Banner stayed seated but alert, probably trying to remain calm, and both Stark and Rogers took a slightly defensive stance. Starks eyes flashed to Natasha for a moment before shifting back to the woman.

"Ah well...I'm afraid that he's not..." His eyes shifted to Natasha again. "available at the moment. You can come ba-" Stark never finished his sentence. The woman dropped to the floor and kicked Stark's legs out from underneath him, causing him to topple to the ground. At the same time Natasha unholstered another gun from her thigh.

"Rogers!" She shouted at the super soldier as she tossed the extra gun towards him. All at once guns were pointed everywhere. The woman jumped back to her feet, this time facing Natasha. Pulling out one small pistol that must have been holstered on her ankle and pointing it at Stark, who was on the floor, and another pistol from under her jacket, pointing that one at Natasha. In response, Natasha trained her gun on the female intruder. The unknown man took out a gun from under his jacket and aimed it on Natasha just as Rogers caught the thrown gun and pointed it at the him.

OOOOO

So many thoughts ran through her mind as Emily gazed upon the 93 story building. The large main entrance that she stood in front of seemed to stare at her, mocking her. _How could this be happening?_ She thought to herself. None of this seemed real, and she half expected herself to awake at anytime and find herself back home, laying in bed curled up with Cait. But it wasn't a dream. This was real. Aliens had invaded New York, and she had most definitely ran into her not so deceased former partner in SHEILD.

"Emma what in the hell is going on?" Aaron demanded from where he stood behind her. The entire drive here, which had taken an increasingly longer amount of time than it should have given all the rubble and debris caused by the attack, he had been demanding answers from her about what was happening. A question that she couldn't even answer for herself. Without turning to look at him, she responded,

"I said it before and I'll say it again. I don't know, Aaron." She continued quieter. "But there's only one way to find out." As she finished speaking she stepped forward into the immense spinning doors. Aaron tried to protest, but nothing could stop her from continuing, and with a grumble, he followed.

The lobby of Stark tower was surprisingly undamaged, the top of the tower getting the brunt of the attack. The front desk, and a number of luxurious arm chairs and couches were still perfectly set up like a five star hotel. Movement caught her eye, but as she looked in the direction it came from she saw nothing but chairs. Voices caught her attention, causing her to turn the other way. Four men were speaking amongst each other.

The first was the easily recognizable Tony Stark, aka Ironman. How could you not recognize him? His face was plastered across almost every magazine in the country. He spoke to a muscular man with long blond hair, wearing some sort of battle armor. Next to them stood a tall blonde man in a blue muscle shirt and blue pants. She recognized him from old SHIELD files. Steve Rogers, aka Captain America, the super soldier from World War II. Her mind filled with questions. _He died at the end of the war, how the hell was he here?_

The last of then men had scraggly black hair, and was seated in a chair next to the other three, listening intently to what they were saying. His demeanor appeared much different from the rest of them, causing him to stand out the small crowd.

With a still brooding Aaron following behind her, she started to advance toward the four. The first one to notice the two agents was Stark, who stopped mid sentence and turned to face them, plastering an obviously fake smile across his face.

"Oh, yes hi, I'm afraid I'm not signing any autographs right now." He gestured towards the door, "We are actually quite busy right now, so if you could come back another day that'd be gre-"

"Actually," Emily interrupted the billionaire, who shot her an annoyed look. "I'm...looking for a Clint Barton?" Her statement came out unsure and nervous, she had no idea what to expect. Her words made all of the men change in their stances, showing her that she had hit a on something of importance. She instantly put her guard up, not knowing what to expect next.

Both her and Aaron were standing directly in front of the four now, and from her close view she saw Starks eyes look at something behind her. It was only for a second, a quick glance, but it made Emily's guard go up even more. The billionaire started to speak again,

""Ah well...I'm afraid that he's not..." His eyes flashed again, verifying her suspicions. Someone was behind her. "available at the moment. You can come ba-"

Without letting him finish she flung into action, kicking Starks legs out from under him. A woman, it must have been the person behind her, called out the name Rogers, and a pistol was thrown towards him. As Emily jumped back to her feet she unholstered the gun that she kept on her ankle, and her other that was kept in her jacket.

The gun that was normally kept on her ankle was pointed down towards Stark, and the other gun was pointed in the opposite direction at the other woman. Aaron also had a gun trained the woman, with the so called, Captain America's, gun aimed at him. "Who the hell are you?" The woman spoke. Emily turned towards her. She had fiery red hair and piercing green eyes. Her features were so familiar to Emily, but she didn't know where from.

"Who the hell are _you?"_ Emily shot back, still racking her mind trying to remember where she'd seen this red head. _Who is she?_ She screamed inside her head. Finally it clicked, and information crashed into her mind.

A solo mission where she had to escort an informant across Bangladesh, a mission that went awry all because of one KGB assassin. Emily had the scar to remember it. With her remembered information, Emily turned even more hostile than she already was.

" _Natalia."_ She whispered the name, but her tone still held pure hatred in it. The red head, now recognizable as the Black Widow, was visibly taken off guard for a moment, but then stepped closer to Emily.

"I will ask you one more time before I shoot you, _who are you?"_ Everyones guns were raised even higher at there own targets, and as Rogers moved closer to Aaron, Emily's FBI partner changed his aim from the red head to the soldier.

A soft hum rang out and suddenly what appeared to be a hammer flew into the hands of the man who wore the armor. He began to step towards Emily threateningly, causing her to point the smaller gun at him, but still keeping her second gun trained on the other woman. Seeing the large man coming towards Emily, Aaron too re-aimed at him, ready to shoot. Their action made the other two with guns start to close in, but just before all hell broke loose, a surprisingly calm but loud voice spoke.

"Everybody _stand down_." All who were in the divided group knew instantly who the voice belonged to, and all but Emily stopped and turned their heads to him. Her body seemed to freeze in its position, not able to move. "Lower your weapons." He addressed everyone, but no one followed his order, still aiming at their adversaries. "I said lower you weapons!" This time his voice was demanding, and slowly everyone started to comply. The large man in the armor lowered his hammer, Rogers lowered his gun, and Aaron, upon seeing them lower their weapons, did as well.

Emily let her smaller gun fall to her side but kept the other still aimed at the assassin in front of her. _How Is she here? She's a killer, a murderer._ Neither women stepped down, not once breaking the hate filled eye contact.

From the corner of her eye Emily saw the man who spoke, _Clint,_ stepping towards them. He reached his hand up and placed it on the Black Widows arm gently.

"Tasha." He spoke quietly as he looked at her.

So many alarms went off in Emily's head. Clint was alive. He was here, everyone saw him, it wasn't just her. But he was with her, the cold blooded killer, why? Why was he working with her?

Slowly, and unsurely, the red head lowered her pistole. The gun was no longer pointed at Emily, but the assassin still kept her hands gripped tightly around the weapon, finger on the trigger. Emily made no move to lower her gun, still pointing it at the two. But when the all too familiar archer stepped in front of her, so close that the barrel of her gun was barely two inches from his chest, her arm dropped slightly towards the ground.

His grey eyes barred into her like he could see her soul. She felt as water started to pool in her eyes, and without warning she dropped her weapons to the floor. They both clattered against the glossy tiles and echoed through the large room. Before anything else could be said or down she stepped closer and wrapped her arms around him. He copied her and enveloped her in his arms. All at once she was surrounded by him. She felt his heart beating through his chest and against her own, signifying that he really was alive.

He still smelled the same that he did eight years ago, and she breathed the aroma in. It comforted her, more than she had ever been. Tears started to roll down her cheeks, falling silently to the floor. _He's alive,_ She spoke to herself, _He's really alive._


	8. Chapter 5

**Heyyyyyyyyyy... wow...so It's been a while...like...A LONG while...I'm really sorry for not posting, but it's finally here! Chapter five! And I swear I'm going to try and post again soon. So, to anyone who was wondering, yes I will be continuing this. I have some interesting plans for this story and am excited to be back at it and posting again.**

 **Thank you to everyone who still reads this after I abandoned you guys for... like six months...everyone who's reading this is awesome and I can't thank you enough!**

 **Now, without further ado, the chapter...**

Chapter 5

 _He's alive._

 _He's alive!_

 _He's alive?_

 _He's alive, the son of a bitch!_

Emily pulled back from the comforting embrace and threw her fist towards Clint's head. It impacted against his face with a smack. He recoiled backward and drew his hand up to cover his cheek.

"OW! What the hell was that for?!"

"I thought you were dead!" She shouted her answer. He shouted back.

"I thought _you_ were dead!" Only a moment of silence passed before both hugged each other again. Clint repeated his statement again, this time in a whisper that only the two of them could hear. Only when someone cleared their throat did the two remember they weren't alone.

"Ehem..."

Emily and Clint pulled away from each other and quickly composed themselves. The others in the room still looked on edge with Aaron and Rogers eyeing each other from the corner of their eyes, the hammer still gripped tightly in the armored man's hand, and the Black Widow staring at Emily with fire in her eyes. Emily shot back a glair that was equally as hateful. The tension was easily recognizable, and everyone seemed apprehensive to silence was finally broken by Stark.

"Well, Robin Hood, care to include us in..." He waved his hand to gesture to both Clint and Emily, "whatever this is?" His comment was met with a mumble.

"It's _Clint,"_ He raised his voice, "and this is...um...a friend."

"A _friend_?" The question was spit out by Black Widow. Clint took a step towards the redhead.

"Yes, Natasha, a friend." He laid his hand gently on her shoulder and looked reassuringly into her eyes. For the first time since Emily had arrived, the redhead turned her eyes away from Emily and instead locked them into place with Clint's. The stare lasted only a second and to any onlooker it meant nothing, but Emily new everything that was said in that look, everything that it held. She knew because it was the same look Clint would give her whenever she was unsure of something. How could she ever forget that look? His grey-blue eyes would slice through all the doubt that she carried, and the corners of his mouth slanted ever so slightly upward to form the teeniest of reassuring smiles.

 _God, I missed that smile._

But it wasn't for her. No, Emily wasn't the target of his comforting look. The red-headed, cold-blooded assassin who had tried, and almost succeeded, to kill Emily years ago was the one on the receiving end of it. Something flared up in Emily's stomach, like a creature that was eating away at her insides.

 _I am not jealous. I. Am not. Jealous._

She forced herself to shove that feeling away. It was stupid to feel this towards someone she hadn't seen in eight years. She'd moved on, and so had he. Just because he was alive didn't change anything.

Suddenly a voice broke through her thoughts and she forced herself to look away from Clint and the redhead.

"Well," Stark stepped forward, almost pushing Clint and the redhead to the side so he didn't have to go around them, "I'm Tony Stark, but I'm sure you knew that. Now I hope you don't mind me answering this question but it's something I'm sure most of us here are wondering. Who exactly are you," The billionaire turned to Aaron, "and why are you here?"

Aaron put his hands up in front of him and said,

"Hey man, don't ask me. I'm just as lost as you are."

Emily butted in,

"Special agent Emma Collins with the FBI." She gestured to Aaron. "That's my partner, Aaron Levins." As she finished her sentence Aaron lifted his hand in a short wave.

" _Emma Collins_?" This time it was Clint who spoke, and he looked at her with a smirk on his face. It seemed to be poking fun at her. She turned to him and rolled her eyes.

"He said it wasn't safe for me to keep my original name." As she spoke something in Clint's demeanor changed. The snark drained from his face and he even slumped slightly as though he was trying to make himself smaller. She didn't understand what caused this sudden change. To her annoyance, the redhead had noticed this change too. Neither of the two managed to say anything before Clint spoke again.

"I think...I...we should all go somewhere more private. I'm sure you and your partner are wondering what happened today and we can fill you in. You deserve an explanation." The last part was tagged on at the last minute. _What does he mean I deserve an explanation?_ Rogers started speaking when he finished,

"Look, Barton, I get that Mrs. Collins-"

"Agent," she corrected. Surprisingly, Rogers gave her a polite nod.

"I get that Agent Collins is a friend, but I'm not sure we have the clearance to tell people about what happened here."

"With all due respect, Captain, _aliens_ just flew through a hole in the sky and destroyed half of New York City. I'm pretty sure everyone on the planet is gonna know what happened by breakfast tomorrow morning." Clint responded. Rogers seemed to contemplate what Clint had said before finally nodding.

"Well," Stark clapped his hands together, "glad that's settled. Why don't we head up to one of the communal floors? Preferably one with alcohol. I could use a drink and I'm sure Brucey here wouldn't mind one to calm his nerves." He slapped his palm down on the curly haired man's shoulder, causing the other man to jump ever so slightly.

"Yeah, I wouldn't mind a drink either," Clint mumbled as he turned away from the group and toward an elevator that was on the other side of the floor. "Let's go."

Every one of Clint's new friends followed his command immediately, but Emily held back and waited for Aaron. His face was covered with confusion, and maybe even a little anger.

"What's going on? Who is that guy?" He questioned her quietly as they fell into step together at the back of the small group. She took a deep breath.

"He's...him..."

"Wow very insightful that clears everything up." His voice was layered with sarcasm. "C'mon _Emily,_ "he eyed her as he called her by the name that Clint had called her back in the FBI building. It was strange to be called by it again. She hadn't gone by that name since she'd left SHIELD, "I'm your partner I deserve to know." He was right. She took a moment to put together her thoughts, then finally responded to him,

"My friend in the army..." She trailed off. Aaron's eyes widened.

"That's him? But...I thought he was dead!"

"Yeah, so did I." They reached the elevator as she finished and the eight bodies filed in. Anyone could have felt the tension in that elevator as everyone either eyed each other with the death stare, suspicion or question. When the bell finally dinged the doors opened to reveal an open room with floor to ceiling windows lining the walls, a bar running across one side, and tables and chairs scattered stylishly around the room. Everyone exited the elevator and spread out to different points of the room. Stark and the dark haired man both went to the bar.

"Who wants a scotch?" He started getting glasses out. "Eh never mind everyone's getting one."

Emily walked over to one of the windows and looked out on the city. Smoke could be seen fuming out from buildings, emergency vehicle lights were flashing at every block, and it was impossible to miss the gigantic whale-like creature that lay dead in the street. The man with the long blonde hair must have seen her staring at the creature.

"Chitauri." He said. She tore her eyes away from the scene and looked at him.

"What?"

The beings that attacked. They're called Chitauri." He took a moment before continuing, "My brother wished to take your world as his own, and helped them." His voice was laced with shame.

"'Wait, my world?' Are you implying there's more than one?" She raised an eyebrow.

"Well of course. Midgard is only one of the nine realms."

"Midgard? Nine Realms? Hold up, are you talking about Norse mythology?"

"Yes, however, it is not a myth. I am Thor of Asgard, son of Odin."

"Thor? Like the god?"

"Yes. Is that troubling?"

"Oh no, no nothing at all. It's just not every day you find out your dead partner is alive, aliens exist, and gods are real." He didn't seem to catch her sarcastic tone and only smiled back at her.

"I think we should get down to the point," Rogers spoke up from his position in the middle of the room. "Who exactly are you, and I don't just mean your name and where you work. How do you and Agent Barton know each other?" It wasn't Emily who answered.

"We used to be partners at SHIELD," Clint said.

"A long time ago," Emily added.

"Eight years." They locked eyes, and again Emily's stomach turned. She almost felt sick. _God Clint, how are you still alive?_

"Used to be?" the quiet, curly-haired man, _Brucey_ as Stark had called him, asked. Emily walked toward the bar where six scotch glasses were now lined up. The seventh and eight were already in the hands of Stark and...Bruce? _Makes more sense than Brucey,_ She told herself. She grabbed one and took a sip before responding.

"Yeah, used to be. Before he died." She paused. "Or... I died."

"Yeah, see, that's where I keep getting lost." He said. Clint grabbed a glass as he made his way to the couch and sat down.

"Eight years ago we were sent on a mission to take down a threat to SHIELD. The mission went sideways and when I woke up back at base in the infirmary Fury told me my partner was dead." Clint looked up at Emily. A hint of pain was in his eyes as he remembered the moment.

"Same for me, but it wasn't Fury who told me-" A realization hit her and she forcefully set down her glass on the bar top. "That son of a bitch. He knew, he knew this whole time and he kept it from me. I'm gonna kill him!"

Her words drew everyone's attention, but Aaron spoke up first.

"Who?"

"My f-" She stopped herself. "Phil Coulson. He was the one who told me and he lied to me!" She turned around to face Clint but stopped when she caught the look on his face. One of sadness and regret, but most of all guilt.

"You knew Phil?" Stark asked. She turned toward him and met a face that was similar to Clint's. A bad feeling crept into her mind, but she tried to push it away.

"Yes...did you?" She directed her question at everyone. Everyone, apart from Aaron, held a face that was the same. Even the Black Widow looked down at her feet to hide her expression. Her bad feeling intensified. She turned back to Stark as he tried to speak again, but before he could get his words out Clint stood up from the couch.

"Stark, don't."

Emily turned around to face him, then back to Stark,

"Tell me what you were going to say."

"Don't." Clint stepped towards her and as he got closer she saw that his eyes were watery. "I...I have to be the one who says it."

Emily knew that look. She'd seen it on the eyes of so many agents after missions had gone an unexpected way. She'd worn it when she had to tell other agents that their fellow agents and friends had been lost, and it was the look that her father had when he told her Clint was gone. _No._ Her mind yelled at her. Clint took a step toward her, but she countered his gained distance by taking a step back and away from him.

"No." She felt her eyes become wet with tears.

"Emily I-"

"Don't. Don't you dare."

"Loki, Thor's brother, put my mind under his control," He paused as he was trying to force the words out, "and I helped him plan his attack on SHIELD. While Loki was captured and being held on the SHIELD Helicarrier I helped carry out an attack to break him out. During the attack Phil..." he took a shaky breath, "Phil tried to stop him-"

"No." Emily turned away from Clint and put her hands on the bar top, gripping the edge so her knuckles turned white.

"-but Loki expected it and he..." Clint stopped mid-sentence. "I'm so sorry Emily..." He trailed off. Emily shook her head, and without turning back to him she said quietly,

"No, now you have to say it. You know you have to or I won't believe it." She knew what he was going to say, and she was prepared for it. At least she thought she was, but Clint's next words were ones she could never be prepared for.

"Your father is dead."

 **Ahhhhhh. Wow, it feels good to post again. I hope you guys liked this chapter! I can't wait to post the next!**


	9. Chapter 6

**Heeeeeeeeeeeeeey... so uh... am I the worst updater ever or what? I am so sorry for taking so long to get you this chapter, guys. I've been incredibly busy with school and also I was experiencing some pretty major writers block on this chapter, so I'm sorry if it's not the greatest! But! School is finally over and I have a couple weeks until my summer class starts so hopefully I'll have the time to write the next chapter and to update soon!**

 **You guys might actually be the best followers ever. Thank you so much to anyone who's reading this right now. You're awesome!**

 **ALSO. I saw Infinity War last weekend and I CRIED. It was so good! Don't worry, I won't spoil anything, but I will say this- bring tissues.**

 **Alright, I won't make you wait any longer than I already have. I hope you guys enjoy!**

Chapter 6

 _"_ _Daddy! Daddy!" The crying six-year-old ran through the grey halls shouting for her father. Unfamiliar faces turned their heads as she ran by them, some shaking their heads disapprovingly and others dawning looks of confusion. The shouting continued to emerge from the child's lips as she raced through the unknown building. Her heart was pounding and tears were running down her cheeks. She came to a crossing in the hall, and with a moment's hesitation, she chose to turn left. The tears were streaming down her face now, and as she brought her hands up to whip her eyes she rammed into someones back. She stopped running and looked up at the man who_ was _talking to a woman but was now turning around to see who had just hit him. His face held a hint of annoyance, but as soon as she looked up at him with tears running down her eyes it melted away._

 _"_ _Well hi there, little one." He said gently, "What's wrong?" He kneeled down so he was the same height as her. At first, she was nervous to speak to this stranger, but before the words 'don't talk to strangers' could be echoed in her mind she burst into tears and fell into the man's arms._

 _"_ _I can't find my daddy." She sobbed into his jacket._

 _"_ _Oh, it's okay." He grabbed her shoulders and softly pushed her away so he could see her eyes. "How about I help you find him?" His smile was genuine and kind, and she responded with a short nod. "Alright," He lifted the young girl into his arms, "What's your daddy's name?"_

 _"_ _Phil." She told him, resting her head against his shoulder. The man turned around to face the woman he'd been talking to before his encounter with the girl. The woman understood his silent question._

 _"_ _Agent Phil Coulson, sir. He should be in briefing room two."_

 _"_ _Let's go find your daddy, okay little one?" He started walking down the halls with her held carefully in his arms. It was a short walk to briefing room two, and when he got there people were just starting to leave. The little girl perked her head up when she saw a familiar face._

 _"_ _Daddy!" She shouted. Multiple people turned around to see who the voice was coming from, but only one gave the voice his full attention._

 _"_ _Emily?" he rushed over and took the girl out of the other man's arms and she buried her face in his shoulder, clutching his neck. His eyes became wide when he realized who the man was. "Oh my...Mr. Pierce, please accept my apology. I put her down for a nap and left her with an agent, I didn't think she'd wake up so soon."_

 _"_ _No apologies needed." Pierce put his hand out in a dismissive way, signaling that it was of no worry, and smiled. "I have a daughter of my own. She's older than this little one here, but I remember times like these well. Now, if you excuse me, I should be getting back to work."_

 _"_ _Yes, of course. Thank you, sir."_

 _"_ _It was really no Problem, Agent Coulson." Pierce turned and walked in the direction he came from. Phil turned away, letting out a sigh of relief. He could only hope that Fury wouldn't get wind of this occurrence. After all, Pierce was there to look into how SHIELD was being run, and Phil bet that having a young child running loose around the halls may not bode well. Especially under the already strained circumstances that Emily was here under. A small sniffle suddenly caught his attention._

 _"_ _Emily, what's wrong?" He asked quietly as she put one of his hands under her chin._

 _"_ _I couldn't find you, Daddy. You were gone." A tear ran down her cheek and he whipped it away._

 _"_ _Oh, I'm sorry sweety, I'm sorry. I won't leave you like that again."_

 _"_ _Promise?"_

 _"_ _Promise."_

OOOOO

 _Dead_.

Her head started spinning and she barely registered a voice.

 _Gone_.

"Coulson... he was your... father?" She didn't really comprehend who asked, but the voice was laced with confusion. She decided the comment didn't need a response.

 _I didn't get to say goodbye._

Emily had dealt with a lot of death in her life, it came with the job. Both jobs. No matter what you do or how hard you try, sometimes you just lose people. You lose partners, friends, family. She knew how it felt and how to deal with it, how to make herself understand what had happened and why, but somehow this one was different. She couldn't understand what she just heard, her mind wouldn't let her.

 _Denials a bitch._

 _What was the last thing I even said to him?_ She thought back to the last time they'd talked. She tried so hard to remember what he'd said to her. All at once it came rushing back to her, and she did the one thing no one thought she would. She laughed. But it wasn't out of joy, it was laced with darkness and morbidness.

"Emily...?" Clint's tone was laced with worry. She let go of the bar top and swiveled around to face him.

"The last time-" She tried to get her sentence out over her laughter, "the last time we spoke he told me- he told me to be careful and not- not get myself killed... and then he was- he was the one who went off and- and died!?" Her laughter finally stopped. "He went off and died..." Silence encapsulated the room and she leaned back against the bar, needing some sort of support.

"If it's any consolation, he died a hero." Rogers who spoke. She snapped her gaze towards him.

"How in the hell is that consolation? I already knew he was a hero. He didn't need to die for me to know that." She didn't mean to lash out at him. Deep down she knew he was just trying to take some of the grief away, but right now she couldn't deal with any sort of comfort.

"Em I," Clint started. "I'm so sor-"

"Stop." She cut him off. "Don't, just don't." She squeezed her eyes shut, painfully aware of the all the eyes that were currently trained on her. "I just- I need some air." Abruptly, she pushed herself away from the bar, walked through the group, and crossed the large room. She silently found herself thanking Stark for making this tower so large, as on the other side of the room she found herself out of earshot from where the other seven people were already mumbling to each other. Finally, she couldn't hold back any longer. A tear trailed down her cheek, quickly followed by a second. She pressed her forehead against the cool glass window and let her eyelids fall closed.

OOOOO

Clint felt his heart collapse in on itself as Emily made a beeline away from the group and to the other side of the room. He started to walk after her but was stopped by Rogers putting his hand out.

"Barton, give her a minute." His voice came out completely calm, and it annoyed the hell out of Clint. _How could he be so calm right now?_

On the outside, Clint was completely composed, but inside he was fighting to keep himself under control. Emily was alive, she was _alive._ And for a moment, it was almost like the eight years they spent apart, thinking the other was dead had disappeared. But then it all fell apart again. Phil was dead. Emily's dad was dead and it was Clint fault. It was all his fault.

"Stop doing that to yourself." Nat suddenly appeared at his side, speaking quietly so the others, who were currently mumbling amongst themselves couldn't hear. Without looking at her, he responded.

"Doing what?"

"Oh please. I know how your head works. Hell, I can practically see those guilt-stricken gears turning around in that skull of yours. It wasn't your fault, Clint. You weren't yourself and everyone knows it."

"I don't think she does." His eyes were fixed on Emily's position across the room where she was leaning against the floor to ceiling window. Nat didn't speak again for a few minutes.

"Phil never said he had a daughter." She looked up at Clint. "You never told me he had a daughter either."

"Natasha..." He rubbed the back of his neck, "it...it was a sore topic and...we just..." He let out a long sigh before trying to continue, but before he could, Rogers spoke to him.

"Barton, I think you need to tell us more about what's going on here."

"Cap, I've already told you everything we know. We were partners, I thought she was dead, obviously she isn't, and now here we are."

"And she's Agent Coulson's daughter?" he questioned further. Clint clenched his jaw together.

"Yes."

"Well, what's she doing here in New York?"

"Did you miss the part where I told you that for the last eight years I thought she was dead?" He spit out. "Why don't you ask her friend?" All eyes pointed to Emily's partner Aaron.

"Oh no, don't look at me. I have no idea what's happening."

"Why are you in New York?"

"Official bureau business. We're working on a case."

"What kind of case?" Clint questioned.

"That's confidential. I can't discuss an open investigation, I'm sure you understand."

"And _I'm_ sure you can make an exception."

"I really can't." Aaron's voice was firm.

"I can always just hack the FBI database." Stark cut in. A bewildered expression made its way onto Aaron's face.

"That is _incredibly_ illegal." Aaron's shifted his glare to Stark.

"Nothing I haven't done before."

"If that's you admitting to hacking the FBI's server, I could arrest you right here and now. Probably all of you."

"I'd like to see you try." This time it was Natasha who stepped in.

"Is that a threat?"

"Does it need to be one?" She stepped threateningly closer to Aaron, who didn't back down.

"Aaron." It was Emily's voice that broke into the conversation next and everyone's attention shifted to her. Her eyes were puffy, and she suddenly looked exhausted. Clint could tell it was taking everything she had to keep herself together. She gave her partner a look that seemed to say 'stand down.' After just a moments hesitation, he listened and backed away from Natasha. Emily breathed out a long breath and spoke again,

"Look... we aren't achieving anything from this and honestly, I think we've all had a long day." She turned her gaze toward Clint for a moment before quickly looking away again. "It's getting late. Maybe we should all take a step back, think, and figure this out...later. I'm sure everyone has some questions."

"I agree." Bruce suddenly cut in, "Everyone should probably be checked out by some sort of doctor."

"You checked all our injuries," Stark responded.

"Tony, I'm really not that kind of doctor. For all I know I could have missed something."

"We're all still standing, aren't we? I say we're fine." He turned back to the rest of the group. "I say we all take the night off, resume this tomorrow."

"We aren't finished here," Rogers spoke just before Thor stepped forward,

"I need to get my brother and the cube back to Asgard immediately.

"Relax. Spangles, we just saved the world I think we deserve a break. And Rapunzel, your brother is currently locked away down in the subbasement in the strongest holding cell Stark Industries has. As long as no one lets him out, and no one's going to, he'll be fine in there for one night. And that cube is safely tucked away in the basement too, placed inside a locked case that can be opened by only yours truly. And hey, there's plenty of rooms here at the tower you guys can stay in." He looked around at his fellow Avengers and found the comment was received by skeptic looks. "Hey, it may look like a disaster on the outside, but I can assure you the inside and the structure of this tower are still completely fine. Trust me, I'm the one who designed it."

Everyone was silent until finally, Rogers spoke up.

"Fine, I suppose it would be a good thing if we all got some rest." He turned to Emily and Aaron, "But you two are staying here as well. First thing tomorrow we are clearing all this up, agreed?" There was a couple of murmurs of agreement, but mostly just nods. Stark clapped his hands together.

"Hotel Stark is open for business. Right this way ladies and gentlemen."

OOOOO

Sitting on the edge of the king-sized bed, Emily stared at the wall across the room. Who knew how long she'd been sitting there, not moving, not making any sound, barely even breathing. For the first time since she sat down, she moved as she fished her phone out of her pocket. The screen lit up and she instantly regretted not checking it sooner as she swiped through the dozens of missed calls.

"Shit." She breathed out as she tapped the call back button and brought the phone up to her ear. She pleaded that there was an answer. She sighed in relief as the line clicked on.

"Em?" the voice on the other end was desperate and Emily could tell she had been crying.

"Cait, I'm so sorry I didn't pick up or call sooner." She rushed out her apology.

"Just tell me you're ok."

"I'm ok. Don't worry, I'm ok. It was just so hectic and I didn't even think to look at my phone. I'm so sorry Caity."

"It's...It's ok. I'm just glad you're ok. I thought-" She choked on her words.

"I know. But I'm ok, really."

"Are you coming home soon?"

Emily didn't answer immediately. She thought about what she wanted to say.

"I...I don't think so, Cait..." She sighed and rubbed her eyes with her free hand. "Things are... insane here and I..." She trailed off. "I just think the bureau is going to need all hands on deck." _oh and my ex who I thought was dead is actually alive and my dad's..._ She couldn't even finish the thought without tears pooling in her eyes. "I'll let you know when I know more, but for now I have to be here." It was met with a long sigh on the other end of the phone.

"Just...promise you'll call me, ok? Every night."

"I promise. I'm gonna try and get some rest. I have a feeling it's gonna be a long day tomorrow."

"Ok...don't forget to call."

"I won't, don't worry."

"Not worrying is definitely not an option at this point." She let out a chuckle and somehow, simply the sweet sound brought a small smile to Emily's cold face. "I love you."

"I love you too. I'll talk to you tomorrow."

"Goodnight." The phone call was ended and Emily gently tossed it onto the nightstand before falling back onto the bed. She didn't even bother getting under the covers as she laid on her side and situated her head on her pillow so she could see out the window. Apparently, every room in this building had one. Slowly, as she looked out onto the city that, in the dark, looked almost undamaged, her eyes began to fall closed and sleep overtook her.

OOOOO

 _Everything was so dark. Unnaturally dark. There was nothing that even produced the slightest amount of light. But through the darkness, she could hear something. Whispers. They were unclear, but she knew they were calling to her. She moved toward them, through the darkness. The whispers became louder, but still indistinguishable. It wasn't until she'd been traveling for minutes when finally something broke through the darkness. A blue light. The whispers grew louder, now sounding like nails on a chalkboard, but still, she had to keep moving. She had to get to the blue light and away from the darkness. She was getting closer, the light was getting brighter, and the whispers were getting louder. Closer. Brighter. Louder. Finally, she could make out the single phrase that the whispers contained: open it._

OOOOO

Emily woke suddenly. It took her a moment to realize that she wasn't in bed anymore. She wasn't laying down. In fact, she wasn't even in the room Stark had given her for the night.

"The hell...?" She was overtaken by confusion as she studied her new whereabouts. Behind her, there was a dimly lit hall that led to an elevator. In front of her was a steel door with multiple locks and a keypad. However, upon her second inspection, she realized that the door was already unlocked and just barely opened. That couldn't be a good sign. _I should really find my way back to my room... I must have sleepwalked here..._ She meant to turn and leave, but she found herself drawn to the other side of the metal door as if something was calling to her.

Pulled by some kind of invisible force, she pushed the door open enough so she could slip through. She found herself surrounded by darkness at first, but suddenly a dim light flickered to life a few yards to her left, illuminating a small case.

"Oooookay... " she spoke to herself. "I should...go...back..." She spoke these words as she slowly walked to where the case was, almost as though something inside of her was drawn to it. When she reached the case's spot in the room, she gently brushed her fingers against the sides of it. When she did, a single thought popped into her mind, and suddenly it was all that encompassed her thoughts.

 _Open it._

She hesitated, but the thought stayed.

 _Open it._

She brought her other hand up and placed it on the other side of the case. As she did so, the case abruptly clicked and the two edges that had just been tightly looked shut were now ever so slightly separated. Blue light seeped out of the now open crack.

 _Open it._

Gripping the top of the case, she lifted it off of the bottom and it swung open. The sudden amount of light made her squint and for a moment her vision was unclear, but as her eyes adjusted she saw something beautiful. A cube that radiated a profound blue light. A light that seemed to illuminate most of the room. Somehow she could feel the power that radiated off of the cube too. It seemed to be hitting her in waves, and with every wave, she felt as though it was calling to her. All the wanted to do was reach out and touch it. To feel its power. Carefully, she began to reach her hand out to it, stretching her fingers towards the beautiful light and immense power that was reaching back to her. As she grew closer, its pull seemed to have more of an effect, and the calling she felt to it grew larger and more urgent. She was so close. So...Close... Before she could come in contact with the cube, a voice spoke out against the silence of the room.

"I really wouldn't do that if I were you."


End file.
